Here’s Suzanne Wrack’s match report from Kingsmeadow.
Kym Little speaks.
It was an enjoyable game to play in. Ultimately we are disappointed not to put one of those chances away. We’ll see as the season goes on, maybe a draw is the even result. Chelsea are solid defensively, they obviously kept us out. Disappointed not to get three points. It was a London derby and great to be a part of it.
It remains so tight at the top.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal Women | 14 | 26 | 31 |
| 2 | Chelsea Women | 13 | 24 | 29 |
| 3 | Man Utd Women | 13 | 14 | 25 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur Women | 13 | 6 | 24 |
| 5 | Reading Women | 12 | 2 | 22 |
Full-time: Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal
The Chelsea players surround the ref. They think it was handball by Leah Williamson and so probably does Leah Williamson. But it’s goalless, but by no means a bore draw. That was a good, good game, and a credit to the WSL and the quality of defending. So, what did we learn about the title race? Both teams may look at this as one that got away.
90+8 min: Into the final throes and there’s a chance for Kerr. Cuthbert chips up and Kerr can’t get a clean contact...and that’s the last of it.
90+7 min: A real let-off for Arsenal and Leah Williamson knows it. The assistant referee was on the wrong side to catch it. A huge talking point afterwards.
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90+5 min: Emma Hayes gets some shouting done on the sideline. And her team look to have a fair shout of a penalty when the ball comes off the arm of Williamson. That looks like a plum handball off Niamh Charles’s cross and Williamson’s face betrayed a guilty conscience.
90+2 min: The ball flashes across the Arsenal goal with Kerr unable to get there. She does get it in the net eventually but she was clearly offside. Some rude words indeed directed at the officials from the home fans for what a correct decision.
90+1 min: Berger again in the Chelsea goal has to clear some danger from another Arsenal free-kick and is fouled in the process.
90 min: Eight minutes added on! You really have to wonder where those came from.
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89 min: Was that the chance? It might well be. The last-ditch stuff has been impressive from both teams. Miedema does go off. Is that cramp? Or a hamstring? She looks in serious pain and Jordan Nobbs comes on to replace her.
88 min: Cheap free-kick conceded by Chelsea for a foul on Foord, and it’s from the left-hand side. Maanum will take and there’s an almighty scramble to clear the ball. Did it go over? It was panic stations in there. Then comes another scramble as Arsenal again try to force a chance. Millie Bright it was who hacked it off the line. That was a moment of high drama with Bright and Berger both clearing it off the line.
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85 min: Miedema looks to have an injury; a worry for Arsenal in these closing stages and perhaps for the weeks ahead. She suddenly decided not to chase down the ball.
84 min: Arsenal pressure now, with Chelsea struggling to get out. But suddenly Sam Kerr shuffles across a couple of defenders before Kym Little rushes back to stop her in her tracks.
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82 min: Chelsea change, off goes Fran Kirby, on comes Niamh Charles. Jesse Fleming on too, with Reiten off.
81 min: Arsenal take it up again, as Leah Williamson dictates from the back. Parris gets a chance to shoot but with her left she can’t get her angles at all right.
79 min: Maanum, the Arsenal sub, takes the ball down and shoots. Easy save for Berger, who has no problem stopping what is Arsenal’s first shot on target.
78 min: Bright has to head behind as Parris threatened, and so it’s a corner to Arsenal. There’s some difficulty but Chelsea eventually smuggle the ball away as Parris again threatens. Getting tense now.
77 min: Chelsea push on, Arsenal’s changes haven’t turned the momentum around much; the defending champions are looking the likelier.
75 min: Harder runs from deep, and Kirby tries to get the ball into Kerr. Arsenal are sitting deep, and may have to as Ji has been highly influential since she came on.
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73 min: Nikita Parris has a chance to make her mark; she’s still yet to score for Arsenal.
72 min: Kirby controls the ball down at the touchline, as Chelsea seek a way through. Double subs from Arsenal: off go Mead and Maritz, on come Parris and Wienroither.
70 min: Arsenal pick it up now as Foord tries to find Blackstenius in the box. Chelsea look to have Arsenal’s measure and Miedema has rather disappeared from the occasion.
68 min: Vital block from Jess Carter, as the ball was just about to fall from a deflection of a Kym Little ball to Caitlin Foord.
67 min: Sam Kerr is getting more involved, trying to make space. Surely a chance will go her way? Chelsea are piling forward.
65 min: The loss of Rafaelle has caused an Arsenal rejig and Chelsea suddenly forces a good chance. Harder, again from the left, plays in the pass and Reiten snatches at the ball. Another chance goes begging but Chelsea look the stronger team here.
63 min: Rafaelle Souza looks hurt, and she limps off, to be replaced by Frida Maanum.
60 min: Foord has the ball blocked by Carter in the Chelsea box and then the ball goes all the way down the other end, and suddenly a shot on goal looks on only for Ji’s shot to be lost by Zinsberger before Williamson falls over. It’s all getting very nervous.
59 min: Arsenal go close. Williamson’s ball finds Blackstenius down the wing, and the ball goes to Walti on the edge of the box, but the shot is hit wide by the defender who is leaning back on the ball.
Updated
58 min: Chelsea sub is imminent, and Erin Cuthbert is down with what looks a hamstring problem that she had strapped. Cuthbert looks in pain. Ji comes on instead, having lost in the final of the Asian Cup with South Korea.
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56 min: Two great chances for Chelsea! Harder gets away down the left, and Kerr swings and misses, and then Mead has her shot blocked. Arsenal immediately go down the other end and force a corner.
54 min: Charles Antaki gets in touch: “Curious to see Leah Williamson cede some of her usual duties to Raffaela - maybe it’s a matter of getting back into her stride gingerly. But good that we’ve seen one or two of the old forward surges. More please.”
53 min: Another yellow card, as Cuthbert is pulled back by Lia Walti. The fouls flying in now, the game perhaps a little less fancy free than in the first half.
52 min: Reiten booked for Chelsea, having hacked down Maritz, the one player booked in the first half.
51 min: Emma Hayes doubtless left her players with fleas in their ears - and some detailed tactical instructions.
49 min: The corner comes out to Chelsea’s Andersson who whips in a shot that has everyone stood watching it fly by, via the slightest of deflections. The corner comes to naught but Arsenal on the back foot here.
48 min: Chelsea begin brightly, with Pernille Harder to the fore. Shades of the first half. Cuthbert gets a shot in, having been played in by Kirby, and it’s blocked for a corner.
47 min: Looks like Miedema is being marked closely by Sophie Ingle, and that looks to be Emma Hayes’ major change for her Chelsea team.
46 min: We’re back underway at Kingsmeadow and hoping for more of the same from these two teams. Emma Hayes sets off purposefully for the bench. She’s made no changes and neither has Jonas Eidevall.
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Half-time: Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal
The chances were never too clearcut but that was a half full of enterprise, with both teams trying their best to get the game won. Danger in attack from the likes of Miedema and Kerr, it’s been high-quality and despite the lack of a goal, it’s been an occasion to match the stakes at hand.
45 min: One minute has been added. It’s been relentless, breathless stuff and the half almost ends with a Kerr goal as Rafaella comes across to block what seemed a goalbound shot, and from close range, from Sam Kerr...that’s the last action of the half.
44 min: First booking, and it’s Maritz of Arsenal yellowed for pulling back a speeding Harder. From the free-kick, Arsenal clear their lines with a bit of difficulty.
43 min: Golden chance missed by Arsenal now. It’s opening up. Foord whips in the ball and Blackstenius should have done miles better. Chelsea’s defending was poor too.
41 min: Arsenal keeper Zinsberger comes out to stop Kirby in her tracks after a lovely flick from Sam Kerr. Chelsea beginning to find their attacking chops? Looks that way. Another attack sees Reiten head over at the back post.
39 min: Berger comes out to catch a Mead cross, and some relief for Chelsea who have been nervous at the back. Down the other end a Chelsea chance as the ball comes to Erin Cuthbert who thwacks the ball first time but can’t beat the first defender.
37 min: The Chelsea fans start up again. They have been quiet in the last few moments. There’s gasps as Sam Kerr misses a sitter though an offside flag saves her blushes.
35 min: Berger is forced to make a save in the Chelsea goal, as Kym Little smashes in a ball from the flank. It was more cross than shot. Then Miedema almost gets Blackstenius through with a lovely reverse pass. But her partner is just a tad slow on the uptake.
33 min: Cuthbert is robbed to set up an Arsenal counter, and then Mead speeds all the way up to the other end of the field, only to run out of colleagues. Great energy from her.
31 min: Arsenal try to calm things down a tad, and then Miedema drops deep to try and play in Mead as Millie Bright comes across to clear the danger.
29 min: Fran Kirby seizes on a Rafaella mistake, but gets a bit excitable and shoots over the bar.
27 min: Miedema shoots from outside the box, again set up by Blackstenius. There’s the makings of a real partnership there, with Miedema given real room to roam.
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26 min: Beth Mead speeds on to a Miedema pass but then she is crowded out. Blackstenius has made room for her, and that’s a problem for Chelsea; Arsenal’s forwards are creating space for each other.
24 min: Arsenal been tight and compact in defence, and Chelsea really struggling to link up in attack.
22 min: Chelsea fans jeering as Arsenal pass the ball round the back but the visitors have been the better team so far.
20 min: The chap shouting “Come on Chelsea” in the stands has the vocal style of a darts announcer. Really gritty, like Joe Fagin on That’s Livin’ Alright. Arsenal have a corner they take short, and it comes at the back post to Miedema, who strikes with typical power and off the woodwork? It sounded like that. Yes, she got over the ball but couldn’t direct the ball in.
Updated
18 min: Foord escapes Carter in the Chelsea box and then falls to the floor, but no penalty and no call for one, either, though Carter took a risk in making that challenge.
16 min: Cuthbert, from the back, whacks the ball in the direction of Kerr but the ball drifts out of play. Chelsea try to come back at Arsenal.
14 min: Blackstenius chases the ball down in the corner but is well run out of danger by Nouwen. Miedema also shows her first flash. Arsenal’s turn to dominate.
12 min: Arsenal win a free-kick in the inside-left channel, and Chelsea only just get it away. This has been a good game so far. Both teams going for it.
10 min: Suddenly, Beth Mead springs into action, and from the right fizzes a ball across goal that was begging for an Arsenal forward to gamble. They decided to stick rather than twist.
8 min: All Chelsea, Arsenal struggling to get hold of the ball. Blackstenius yet to get much of the ball to release Miedema.
6 min: Harder’s in the thick of it but this time her pass to Kerr is awry.
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5 min: Sam Kerr almost gets away when Leah Williamson plays the ball straight to Pernille Harder, but then plays the ball straight to Leah Williamson.
4 min: A big miss from Fran Kirby. Harder scampers down the left, gets to the byline, and pulls it back. Kirby takes it first time and smashes wide. That’s a waste.
2 min: Chelsea begin with some attacking intent, and it takes a Kym Little intervention to clear the danger. Get it launched indeed.
1 min: And away we go, and it’s pretty raucous out there. “Champions of England, we know what we are,” sing the Chelsea fans.
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The sound of Harry J and the All-Stars’s Liquidator means that kick-off is not far off at Kingsmeadow. It’s a sell-out down there, and there’s quite a noise from the stands.
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Jonas Eidevall speaks to Sky Sports.
We have tried to pick the starting XI that will hurt Chelsea. [On Leah Williamson] So far, she has been very good playing for us so we are happy she is playing for us. She has some excellent qualities. I am looking forward to seeing her partnership wwith Rafa. I hope you see that Blackstenius, will keep the Chelsea defence occupied. And hope to ask a question of the Chelsea defence.
Emma Hayes speaks from Kingsmeadow to Sky Sports.
We often making changes for tactical reasons, and that’s part of our plan. I believe in consistency and performance. You can’ dial it up and turn it down. [On the Kingsmeadow crowd] They are amazing, I have got some them some chocolate eclairs in, I shall sweeten them up.
What does that team news mean? Emma Hayes makes just one change from the Chelsea team that beat Manchester City 1-0 on Sunday, with Fran Kirby in for Jessie Fleming. Arsenal are without the suspended Katie McCabe but the strength of their options is shown by bringing in Leah Williamson, Rafaelle Souza, Stina Blackstenius and Caitlin Foord for Jennifer Beattie, Tobin Heath, Jordan Nobbs and McCabe. Plenty of big-hitters out there tonight on Jack Goodchild Way.
An interview with Arsenal’s new Brazilian star, Rafaelle Souza.
She compares her life story to other players from the northeast region, such as Marta, born in the neighbouring state Alagoas. “We were never handed things out easily. It was always harder for us,” she says. Brazil is an unequal country, and even now, the women’s game is developing faster than ever in the southeast while still struggling in northern regions. “We have so much talent that we send many players to the women’s national team, but we don’t have as many resources or opportunities to be seen.”
Here are the teams
Tonight's Chelsea team! 👊🔵 #CFCW pic.twitter.com/jsuAtLrKXB
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) February 11, 2022
Chelsea: Berger, Carter, Bright, Nouwen, Andersson, Cuthbert, Ingle, Reiten, Kirby, Kerr, Harder. Subs: Musovic, Ji, Fleming, James, Charles, Spence, Abdullina.
💛 OUR STARTING XI 💛
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) February 11, 2022
🏴 @leahcwilliamson returns
🇧🇷 @Rafaelleleone in defence
🇸🇪 @SBlackstenius full debut #LondonDerbyDay pic.twitter.com/5ApmMsNNUy
Arsenal: Zinsberger, Maritz, Williamson, Souza, Catley, Walti, Little, Miedema, Mead, Blackstenius, Foord. Subs: Williams, Beattie, Boye, Wienroither, Nobbs, Maanum, Iwabuchi, Parris, Heath.
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Some pre-match stats here.
- Following their 3-2 win over Chelsea on the opening weekend this season, Arsenal are looking to complete the WSL double over the Blues for the first time since the 2013 campaign under boss Shelley Kerr.
- Chelsea’s Pernille Harder has scored more WSL goals against Arsenal than she has against any other side (3), with all three strikes coming in her last two such games. The last player in the competition to net in three successive matches against the Gunners was Jane Ross in September 2017.
- Arsenal’s Beth Mead has assisted 35 goals in the Women’s Super League and needs one more to surpass Karen Carney as the player with the most assists in the competition’s history.
- Only Toni Duggan (11) has scored more WSL goals against Chelsea than Arsenal’s Beth Mead (8), though each of those strikes have come in home matches, failing to score in seven away appearances against the Blues.
Eidevall ruffled feathers with his exorbitant celebrations on the opening day at the Emirates Stadium. His fiery presence on the touchline also recently resulted in back-to-back yellow cards, against Manchester City and Manchester United, to add to two earlier in the season.
A fist-pumping scream on his knees helped fuel the Chelsea players, who crushed Arsenal 3-0 in December’s FA Cup final. The budding rivalry between Hayes and Eidevall has been much more diplomatic this time, with neither seemingly wanting to provide further motivation for their opponents.
Suzy Wrack previewed the big one.
Preamble
This is massive, make no mistake about it. Should Arsenal win, then they keep their London rivals at arm’s length, should Chelsea win then they climb to the top and with a game in hand on Arsenal.
You can tell it’s a big one as the managers are playing down its significance. ““The twists and turns will go the whole way regardless of outcome,” says Emma Hayes. “It’s not a game Arsenal need to win. A draw or even a loss in either direction isn’t necessarily defining.”
“I don’t have a crystal ball,” says the Arsenal manager Jonas Jonas Eidevall. “It’s the most important game because it’s the next game. This is about getting out there with an attitude and trying to win the game and not being afraid of losing.”
Classic phoney war stuff, though a Friday night audience will be watching on, and Arsenal need to arrest their slide in 2022 if they are to hold off Hayes and Chelsea, who have such knowhow in these situations.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal Women | 13 | 26 | 30 |
| 2 | Chelsea Women | 12 | 24 | 28 |
| 3 | Man Utd Women | 13 | 14 | 25 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur Women | 13 | 6 | 24 |
| 5 | Reading Women | 12 | 2 | 22 |
